Huw Edwards due in court for sentencing hearing

Disgraced BBC News presenter Huw Edwards is owed backmost successful tribunal astatine a proceeding wherever helium could beryllium sentenced for charges involving indecent images of children.

In July, the erstwhile newsreader admitted having 41 specified images, which were sent to him connected WhatsApp - including immoderate showing a unfortunate aged betwixt 7 and nine.

He volition instrumentality to Westminster Magistrates' Court successful London astatine 10:00 BST connected Monday.

He could beryllium sentenced astatine the hearing, oregon the lawsuit could beryllium referred to a higher court.

Until past year, Edwards was 1 of the main presenters connected BBC One's News astatine Ten and often fronted sum of large nationalist events.

At his past tribunal appearance, helium pleaded blameworthy to 3 counts of making indecent images of children. Under the law, images tin mean photos oregon video clips.

He was recovered to person 7 class A images - the astir superior classification, which amusement superior maltreatment including penetrative intersexual activity.

Most of the class A images were estimated to amusement children aged betwixt 13 and 15. Two clips showed a kid aged astir 7 to nine.

He besides had 12 class B pictures, which impact non-penetrative intersexual activity, and 22 photographs successful class C, which covers different indecent images. The class B and C pictures showed children aged betwixt 12 to 15.

Police aboriginal revealed the antheral who sent the images to Edwards was a 25-year-old convicted paedophile called Alex Williams.

Edwards' barrister Philip Evans KC told the erstwhile proceeding that the erstwhile broadcaster had not "in the accepted consciousness of the connection created immoderate representation of immoderate sort".

He added that Edwards "did not support immoderate images, did not nonstop immoderate to anyone other and did not and has not sought akin images from anyplace else".

Mr Evans besides said the erstwhile broadcaster had experienced "both intelligence and physical" wellness issues.

The barrister told the tribunal his lawsuit "was not conscionable of bully character, but of exceptional character".

At that proceeding successful July, Ian Hope, prosecuting, told the tribunal that a suspended condemnation mightiness beryllium considered for Edwards.

Setting retired the imaginable penalties nether the law, helium said that wherever determination was the imaginable of rehabilitation, a assemblage bid and intersexual offender attraction programme could beryllium considered arsenic alternatives to a jailhouse sentence.

Edwards was the BBC's highest-paid journalist, receiving betwixt £475,000-£479,999 betwixt April 2023 and April 2024.

The BBC has asked him to instrumentality the £200,000 helium earned betwixt his apprehension past November and his resignation this April.

The BBC's manager wide said past week that "discussions are nether way" astir the anticipation of clawing backmost the money.

"Making" indecent images tin person a wide ineligible definition, and covers much than simply taking oregon filming the archetypal representation oregon clip.

The Crown Prosecution Service says it tin include:

• opening an email attachment containing an image
• downloading an representation from a website to a screen
• storing an representation connected a computer
• accessing a pornographic website successful which an representation appears successful an automatic "pop-up" window
• receiving an representation via societal media, adjacent if unsolicited and adjacent if portion of a group
• or live-streaming images of children

A tribunal indispensable besides determine whether an offence falls into the class of possession, organisation oregon production.

According to the Sentencing Council, which issues guidelines connected sentencing that the courts indispensable travel unless it is successful the interests of justness not to bash so, creating the archetypal representation counts arsenic accumulation - the much superior of the 3 categories. It adds that "making an representation by elemental downloading should beryllium treated arsenic possession for the purposes of sentencing".